Largo Area’s Warm Welcome is a new project co-ordinated by Largo Communities Together and supported by Fife Council, The Rotary Club of Leven, The LACRT, The Largo Area Community Council and Fife Voluntary Action. We are also very lucky to have had some sponsorship from Ewan Fraser including ECF Electrical – Thank you !

Largo Library and Community Hub (7 Lundin Square Lundin Links, Fife, KY8 6BH) will provide everyone with a warm and welcoming space through the coldest months this winter.

The library is continuing with their Warm Wednesdays on the 21st of December.

They had some great feedback on the last two Warm Wednesdays and word is spreading.

The library is open from 10.00am with tea, coffee and newspapers available. Soup and rolls will be available from 11.00-1.00pm.

Please spread the word to people who you think will benefit from this warm space.

Everyone is welcome!

On Tuesday afternoons (2:00 – 5.00pm), Thursdays (10:00 – 1.00pm and 2.00-5.00pm) and Saturday mornings (10.00-1.00pm) the library will offer tea, coffee, biscuits and newspapers and a warm space and a warm welcome.

(If transport or anything else is a barrier please get in touch – just reply to this email and we will follow up.)

If you are interested in getting involved as we grow our volunteer capacity just hit the button below to register interest.

Over the next few weeks

As we are getting organised with our Warm Welcome venues there will be gaps in what we can provide as we rely on volunteers.

So, to cover this gap as best we can in some of the coldest weeks of the year, we are offering a Warm Welcome Special which is a hot soup, roll and drink for a subsided offer of £3 at either The Lundie Coffee Company, 19 Leven Road, Lundin Links or at The Aurrie Cafe, Lower Largo.

There will be vouchers at both the venues and at the Largo Library from next week. Just ask for a Warm Welcome Special.

Get in touch if you want one emailed out or if there is someone you know who may benefit.

(If you have a business and would like to offer something for our Warm Welcome programme please get in touch or if you are looking for any support including information or transport —- just hit reply)

Christmas Day Offer

The Aurrie in Lower Largo have had support from LACRT and The Hatti Group to have a free community Christmas Day, it’s a great way to share resources not to speak of plenty of songs and jokes.

They have a delicious menu prepared so if you are unsure of what you are doing this Christmas consider booking a place where there is sure to be plenty of care, warmth and cheer.

Looking towards the New Year

The Camera Club along with Largo Communities Together are presenting and adventurous evening with previous local resident Keith Partridge on the 13th of January.

Details below, all proceeds to the Largo Pier Fund. Tickets available at Zapha’s & The Aurrie.

There has been a lot of interest in this talk so make sure you get a ticket soon !

Finally, a very big thank you

To all of you – We had such a fantastic response to our Community Groups Open day, and our first proper Friends of Largo Bay Meeting and it gives us a great picture of the gaps and opportunities we face. It has given us so much to work with as we look forward to 2023 and we also look forward to the next stage of the Local Place Plan and Community Action Plan with a much clearer picture of priorities.

To all the people who showed up at our events; responded to our questions online or got in touch in any way; the volunteers; ocean enthusiasts & litter pickers; all the local schoolchildren; those who come from afar; the parents; businesspeople and community groups (to mention but a few) who have got involved in our activities over the past twelve months – thank you so much !

As always just hit reply if you have anything to say, questions or feedback…

A few updates

We want to point you to a few things that are coming up and update you on some of what’s been happening.

A chance to come out and have your say will be this coming Community Groups Open Day — Sunday the 4th of December from 12-3pm at the Durham Hall, come along and share your thoughts and have a mince pie – Christmas Jumpers welcome!

There is a lot on this coming weekend with Largo Arts Weekend, The Christmas Fair at the Aurrie and the Craft Fayre at the Montrave Hall so it’s a great opportunity to stay local and explore.

We will be celebrating the community groups that operate in the area with lots in attendance and also thinking about what support those initiatives need – if you have an idea for a group and are looking for support – please do come along to find what we can do or if you want to sign up or chat !

We had a great turnout to our business engagement on the 14th of November and all the findings are on our website.

We will extend these questions out to all the community as we go too, click below to read through our findings on the website.

Making our own maps

We have also started building an online map where we can record the wishes and thoughts of the community on what we want to protect, change and any issues – we will communicate this to Fife Council Planning Department as well as keep it for our own records and action plan.

Yesterday we started to gather the thoughts of the younger members of the community through Lundin Mill and Kirkton of Largo School where they made maps of what they value and what they use in the neighbourhoods.

Warm Spaces and Christmas Meals

There will be a designated Warm Wednesday programme coming up at the Largo Library ( 7 Lundin Square Lundin Links, Fife, KY8 6BH ) starting next Wednesday the 7th of December and continuing on the 14th and 21st of next month.

This is a pilot and they have had support from several local organisations including the LACRT and Rotary of Leven who have donated soup urns and given financial support. They hope to reach people who will benefit and create a welcoming space through the coldest months – do go along and share a soup, roll and chat between 11am -1pm.

On Saturday mornings (10th and 17th of December) the library will offer tea, coffee, biscuits and newspapers.

If transport or anything is a barrier do get in touch – just reply to this email and we will follow up.

(There is also a talk on at the Largo Library this evening about the Levenmouth Rail Link at 7pm)

The Aurrie has also received support from LACRT and local group HATTI to create a Cozy Christmas day meal for anyone who would like to share company and cheer with the wonderful volunteers and staff at the Aurrie, Lower Largo. If you want to book a space or know someone who would enjoy this – email [email protected] or phone 07813378512.

We have a Friends of Largo Bay meeting coming up at the end of the week – if you would like to be included in future mailings please reply to this email and we will add you to the list.

There is also an open volunteer day you can join coming up – there is a call to anyone who can help to remove some of the invasive species Rosa rugosa in the bay with Dominic Rye from the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust on Tuesday the 6th of December from 10am -3pm.

If you can join this, please email Dominic so he can cater for you on [email protected]

A last call out !

Do you run a business, a farm or are you self-employed and work from home?

As Largo Communities Together and in partnership with the Largo Area Community Council we are leading a Local Place Plan for the areas of Upper and Lower Largo, Lundin Links, Woodside, New Gilston, Newburn and Drumeldrie.

A Local Place Plan is a way of capturing and representing the wishes and priorities of a community on their terms.

Next up we have a dedicated evening for those who run businesses planned for the 14th of November at the Durham Hall.

To this end we have sent out cards to business operators though we are still building on our knowledge of our neighbourhoods, so it is possible we have missed some people.

If you would like to be included or have not RSVP’d to date, get in touch now.

Community Groups

We are also building our knowledge of all of the community groups in the area and know that there have been changes over the past years.

We have been talking one to one with those who help organise community groups or run classes in the area to build knowledge about what the needs and offers are.

If this is you, please drop a message below.

On the 4th of December we will hold Community Groups Open Day from 12-3pm at the Durham Hall.

This will be a drop in for anyone to attend with mince pies, tea and coffee. If you organise a community group of any size or run a class in the area – get in touch and reserve a space.

There will be no charge to take part and we hope it will give people an idea of the range of resources there are in the area, if you have flyers or a sign-up sheet bring them along.

Set up will be from 11am on the day.

If you are unable to attend in person, get in touch too and we will share the information that you provide.

A reminder about this evening

Shaun Suttie of the East Neuk Hatchery will be giving a talk at the Largo Library, 7 Lundin Links Square, this evening at 7pm.

He has had some interesting experiences since starting this project and has big plans for the future, come along and ask questions.

Tea and coffee provided and no need to book.

Will be great to see you!

Calling all businesses…

We have also been sending out invitations to our Business Engagement Event that will run on the evening of the 14th of November at the Durham Hall, if you run a business of any type or size and would like to be included just hit reply and I will send all the details through.

There is also time to get involved in our Community Groups Open Day or drop in and find out more about what’s happening in the area, everyone is invited – which will be from 12pm until 3pm at the Durham Hall on Sunday the 4th of December.

(We are lucky to have it running alongside lots of other things that weekend including the Craft Fair at the Montrave Hall, The Christmas Fair at the Aurrie and Largo Arts weekend – and maybe more! The perfect chance to wander around!)

Community Groups

As we progress with our first ever Local Place Plan and find out what are the priorities in the community for submission to Fife Region we are holding one to one conversations with people who run groups or organisations in the area. This will give us great insight into what is needed and where for future developments. If you help with any community groups and would like a chat about what you need and can offer to the community – just reply to this email.

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On that note we are going to have a Community Groups Open Day in the Durham Hall on the 4th of December from 12pm until 3pm at the Durham Hall, Lower Largo and hope as many people as possible from the abundance of groups and organisations that run throughout the area can make it along to showcase what they do.

There will be mince pies, tea and coffee and we hope you can drop in or get in touch if you want to get involved.

Calling all businesses

We are also engaging with everyone in the area who has a business, land or a farm and will be holding an evening event on Monday 14th of November based on forging new connections and a collective strategy for the Largo Area community, please do get in touch if this is you! We want to this reach as many types of business interests in the area so no matter the size or area you operate in do get in touch.

We will also be reaching out individually but don’t want to accidentally miss anyone who wants to be included.

Friends of Largo Bay

We continue to work with the primary schools in the area on gaining an understanding what the children value. Most recently we did three beach cleans for the Great National Beach Clean. Please see the graphs attached for a depiction of what we found. We look forward to welcoming our local Oyster Officer to Largo Bay after the holidays as she comes along to the next outdoor day with the children. More on that soon.

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We continue our Friends of Largo Bay group and will be hosting Shaun Suttie of The East Neuk Hatchery at Largo Library on the 26th of October at 7pm. Do come along to find out more about this conservation project which he plans will result in a local centre focusing on regenerating lobster populations.

A big thank you too to everyone who filled out the survey for Friends of Largo Bay – it really helps us shape the vision going forward and we look forward to sharing more with you all soon…

All results from the Survey are here and get in touch if you want a chance to submit your views.

Community Council Meeting Next Week

LARGO AREA COMMUNITY COUNCIL

An in-person meeting of Largo Area Community Council will be held on
Monday 17.10.22 at 7.15pm in the Simpson Institute, Main street Upper Largo

Members of the public are invited to submit issues for discussion by the following means:-

(1) by telephoning the Chairman (Peter Aitken) (01333-320574) or the
Secretary (Donna Stewart) (07882514983)

(2) by Emailing the Chairman (Peter
Aitken)([email protected])
or the Secretary(Donna Stewart) ([email protected] )

This is a public meeting and members of the public are welcome so do just come along !